Yajur Veda-1

PARTIAL VIEW OF YAJUR VEDA

(Copy right protected by Dr. G.S. Tripathy)

PART-I

Without any admixture of contents of later Brahman text that the sukla yajuh is purely a Veda which is generally considered. Yajur Veda is otherwise known as karma kanda.

Original verses are mixed up with explanatory passages in Krishna yajuh, on the other hand. For performing rituals yajur Veda is regarded as a guide book.

It contains all facets of life. From the creation it is made available to common man the knowledge gained by the seers.

This Veda covers domestic services, scientific inventions, educational activities, the apparatus of government, charities and symbolic rituals.

To the supreme Artist yajna is an approach through His supreme Art. Spread over forty adhyayas, the yajur Veda is a collection of 1975 verses.

That there were four classes of priests who were required at any sacrifice or yajna – is very important to understand.

First Class

        I.            Officiating Priests or ACOLYTES or HOTRI: By reciting mantras these officiating priests invoked gods and preferred the sacrificial ground and the altar by pouring out libations. The hymns of the Rig-Veda are for this class of priests.

      II.            Second Class: these priests consist of choristers (UDGATRI) who chanted the sacred hymns of SAMA Veda only.

    III.            Third Class: these priests consisted of the reciters (ADHVARYU) who carried on sacrificial hymns of the Yajur Veda.

    IV.            Fourth Class: these priests consist of Brahman overseers, who supervised the sacrifice and hymns of the Atharva Veda are for this class of priests.

The Yajur Veda samhita consists of formulae and verses to be uttered by the ADHVARYU who are mainly entrusted with manual work to be performed at the time of yajna.

The liturgical Yajur Veda is partly metrical. From the hymns of Rig Veda, most part of it is extracted. The remaining part is in prose.

The word “Yaj” means to sacrifice. The name of Yajur Veda is derived from this only.

In different sakhas or schools every Veda was taught. The teaching of one school or shakha often varied from that of another.

To four of his disciples, Veda Vyasa taught four Vedas according to the legend that goes.

1.       PAiLA – was taught Rig Veda

2.       Vaishampayana –Yajur Veda

3.       JAIMINI – SAMA Veda

4.       SUMANTU –AtharvaVeda

Yajur Veda was taught to twenty seven different pupils. This Veda was branched into different schools over time subsequently.

The first one was the taittiriya which is black yajur Veda. The second one was the VAJASANEYI – often referred to white Yajur Veda.

The taittiriya samhita is called black as it is impure. It is impure because both the samhitas and Brahmans portions are mixed up here.

The Vajasaneyi samhita clearly demarcates the samhita & Brahman parts where the Brahmin part being known as satapatha Brahman.

This is partly metrical and partly in prose. The prose passages are known as yajus.

The Gods of the Vedas:

Without some sort of understanding of Gods in the Vedas it cannot be really be appreciated. In nature and character the Gods of the Vedas were different from the gods that one encounters in the epics or in sacred texts known as puranas.

There are three major Gods in the Vedas. They are Agni, Indra or vayu and Surya.

Agni ruled over the earth (prithvi). Indra or Vayu ruled over the atmosphere (antariksha) and Surya ruled over heaven or dyuloka

All other Gods were regarded as the manifestation of these three Gods.  

-          On earth all gods were identified with Agni.

-          In atmosphere all Gods were identified with Indra or Vayu.

-          In heaven all Gods were identified with Surya.

YASKA – a commentator on the Vedas who lived around 800 B.C. had given the above version in his own way.

Apart from the above there are two other versions also as well.

1.       One held that the various Gods were manifestations of the same unified supreme God head. This monotheistic point of view found in the Upanishad particularly.

2.       An alternative point of view subscribed to polytheism. This held that all the various Gods could not be identified as they were distinct.

From place to place, even within Vedas, number of Gods varies. In some places, there are only three Gods. One ruling the earth, second on the atmosphere and the third on the heaven.

-          The earth, the atmosphere and heaven were known as Lokas (regions), thus there being three Lokas only.

-          But in some places, there were eleven Gods from each Loka so that there were thirty three Gods in all.

In some places there are references to 3339 Gods in all. But when we come to the age of PURANAS. The number of Gods increased to 33 crores.

Many scholars have suggested the Gods of the Vedas are nature Gods. That is forces of nature have been so humanized that their original elemental form is sometimes impossible to detect. This is known as Anthropomorphism. There are also abstract deities with whom no forces of nature can readily be identified, besides.

That the Gods of the Vedas can’t easily be compartmentalized into pantheons of monotheism or part of polytheism. It is also important to realize and discus. What is more commonly found is kathenotheism. That is, there are more than one God.

There is more than one god. But whenever a hymn is addressed to a particular god, the god comes to be ascribed with all the divine qualities. In course of the hymn, the god in question is regarded as the supreme god head and all other gods come to be regarded as his manifestations.

Under three different headings the god of the Vedas can now be cataloged.

Gods of heaven (dyuloka) gods of the atmosphere (antriksha) and the gods of the earth (prithvi).

According to Vedas the chief gods of heaven are dyouspite. A Mitra / Varun / Surya / sabita / pusha / Vishnu the two

Ashvinis: Usha and Chandrama

Dyouspite: is regarded as the father of the Universe.

Prithvi being regarded as mother.

Dyouspite and the earth are together addressed as dyavaprithvi

Dyouspite seems to have been a personification of the sky the gods Mitra and Varuna are almost invariably addressed in unison. With the day Mitra seems to have been identified where Varun is identified with the night. With Surya Mitra is also identified. Varun came to be regarded as the lord of ocean in the period of epics and puranas.

At the time of Vedas, this was not the case at all.  Sun god is surya, sabita is manifestation of surya at specific period of time as well as pusha.

In the Vedas Vishnu is a minor god. There are indications that Vishnu was also regarded as manifestation of Surya.    

The physicians of Gods were two Ashvinis sharing a common wife named Usha or dawn. These two Ashvinis are closely associated with Surya in the Vedas. They may very well have been stars (nakshatra) identified in the morning and evening. “Nasatya” is another name of these Ashvinis. Usha is also addressed as Dakshina (Sacrificial fee).

That priest began sacrifices at the time of dawn and received the fees. Chandrama is the moon God and He is a minor God, with the God SOMA He is closely identified.

The Gods of the atmosphere are Indra, Aja EKAPADA, MATARISHVAN, VAYU, VATA, PARJANYA, RUDRA, and the Maruts.

The most powerful of all Gods is Indra in the Vedas. He killed the VRiTRA (the dawn). Accordingly he is addressed as VRITRAHA. PURANDARA is another name of Indra.

-          AJA EKAPADA is a minor God and is probably a manifestation of either Agni or Surya.

-          MATARISHVAN, Vayu, Vata are all Gods of the wind.

-          Parajanya has a close relationship with them and is a personification of clouds. Parjanya thus rules over herbs and rains. The Rudra of the Vedas is not the Rudra of the Puranas and epics.

In the Vedas, Rudra is God associated with the wind. He is identified with Agni alternatively.

-          The maruts are also wind Gods and are regarded as off springs of Rudra. Close companion of Indra is Maruts.

Agni, Brihaspati, Brahmanpati, Soma and Saraswati are the chief Gods of earth. The main God is Agni. He is the Fire God. There are three different types of fire.

a.       AHAVANIYA, b. DAKSHINAGNI, c. GARHAPATYA

A.      AHAVANIYA: to offer oblations to Gods, Ahavaniya Agni is used.

B.      DAKSHINAGNI: is used to make offerings to the ancestors.

C.      GARHAPATYA:  is the fire that continually burns in any household.

By rubbing two pieces of stick (ARANI) together fire was ignited in the age of the Vedas. These are known as Uttararani and Adhararani.

It is not entirely clear whether Brihaspati or Brahmanpati is indeed God. He seems to have been more like a chief priest, often regarded as the Lord of all the hymns. It was only in a later period that Brihaspati came to be identified with a nakshatra. SOMA is really a herb, although he is identified with chandrama.

In the Vedas saraswati  is not the Goddess  of learning. She is a river and also known as Bharati. The creator of all beings is the God Sabita as pronounced by Veda.

In this context, although the hymn is addressed to Sabita probably Sabita does not mean a manifestation of Surya. The world is probably used to signify the supreme God head Paramatma.

The vasus are gods and there are eight of them. The eight vasus are sometimes identified as Agni, Prithivi, Vayu, Anteriksha, Aditya, Dyou, chandrama and nakshatra. The word Aditya signifies a son of Aditi, the mother of all Gods.

A Kamadhenu is a cow which gives whatever fruits one desires.

There are three Kamadhenus:

-          The first is full of life span.

-          The second is the power to perform all actions.

-          And the third is the energy that is the nurture of everything.

The implications are as follows for these three Kamadhenus:

-          Some men strive for a long life.

-          Others attain fame through their actions.

-          And still others seed union with the energy that is the paramatma.